Worker Discontent Deepens with Crisis

By Dalia Acosta, IPS, 15 November 2000

HAVANA, Nov 15 (IPS) - Job dissatisfaction among Cuban workers has
grown worse over the last decade, in parallel with the worst
economic crisis the socialist government of Fidel Castro has
faced.

The governmental National Institute for Worker Health (INSAT)
reports that the perception of Cuban employees of their work
environment is "less positive" today than it was in the late
1980s.

In 1988-1989, 26.8 percent of the workers surveyed expressed
dissatisfaction with their jobs, but the percentage jumped to 40.6
percent in a similar study conducted in 1998-1999.

There are many more complaints recorded now about excessive
physical and psychological effort in the workplace, the management
style of superiors, professional problems and internal work
relations.

In addition, "job dissatisfaction is frequently the result of
work environment conditions, such as noise, vibrations, and the
presence of chemical and biological substances," stated Elvis
Guerrero Lobaina, a clinical psychologist at INSAT.

Unhappiness with the work environment was mentioned by 12.9
percent of the people polled at the end of the 1990s, compared to
7.7 percent of those surveyed a decade earlier.

Women present with psychological complaints more often than
men, both in the workplace and at home, including frustrations
with their families, romantic partners and sexual relations.

And women "are particularly sensitive to conflicts in their
interpersonal relationships, and to feeling over-taxed by their
workloads, whether physically or psychologically," Guerrero said.

The INSAT study involved 3,000 individuals and evaluated the
relationship between stress-generating elements "both in the work
and family environments, and the impacts on mental health." In
every case, women are in a worse situation than men.

The research took into account the total workload of each
woman, including her domestic duties. "Domestic chores also
involve health risks and deserve attention," stressed Guerrero.

Sources form the Ministry of Labour and Social Security
announced this month that there are approximately 4.5 million
people employed in Cuba, out of the nation's total 11 million
inhabitants. More than 43 percent of the workers are women. The
government reports it has created 124,000 new jobs this year.

Unemployment reached 6.1 percent in September, compared to four
percent in 1990. More than half the people seeking work on the
island are women and, in general, are young adults.

For the first time since the Castro-led revolution of 1959, the
possibility of layoffs became a reality with the economic crisis
of the 1990s.

First came factory closings, the reduction of job positions,
and shortages in energy and raw materials. In 1995 the Cuban
government implemented a strategy of gradual labour reforms in
order to improve the efficiency of its enterprises.

Despite the 34.8-percent drop in gross domestic product (GDP)
from 1990 to 1993, the authorities guaranteed a temporary subsidy
for those who had been "rationalised," the term used for the
victims of layoffs.

In addition to labour insecurity, workers on the island were
hurt by the sharp cuts in public transport and by the considerable
decline in the value of the average salary, some 200 pesos
throughout the last decade.

In the worst moments of the economic crisis, one US dollar was
the equivalent of 150 Cuban pesos. The exchange rate in recent
years has stabilised at around 21 pesos per dollar at the
government-run exchanges.

"Getting to work is a real odyssey. You leave home two hours
ahead of time and, between this and that, often the bus doesn't go
by on time, and you arrive at work two hours late," says Gustavo
Brito, 41, a technician at a state-run firm.

"Then, you get there and most likely there is no electricity,
or something else happens. You are there four or five hours
wasting time and thinking about when you'll catch the bus back,"
he added.

Another case is Yanelis G˘mez, a professional who confesses she
has often considered "leaving it all and staying home," because
she is "fed up with the incompetence and lack of comprehension of
the managers, and with the suspicions that arise in reaction to
any new idea."

G˘mez says she is sure "it is not worth it to work so hard for
340 pesos a month," but at the same time she cannot imagine
herself "stuck all day at home, where in the end I would work
twice as hard as I am now and not earn a cent."

A survey conducted by experts from the National Office of
Statistics indicates that more than 90 percent of employed women
also work at home, where they toil an average of 18 more hours per
week than men.

The report "Statistical Profile of Cuban Women" published
last year showed that women spend 39 hours per week working
outside the home and slightly more than 34 hours per week on
domestic chores.

Men, meanwhile, work 43 hours outside the home each week, and
12 hours at home, where they generally perform support work,
assisting women, and rarely are solely responsible for domestic
tasks.

According to INSAT's Guerrero, in addition to the effort
implied by work in the home, there women are exposed to toxic
chemicals and other physical health risks, including excessive
heat, humidity and poor lighting.

"Everything seems to indicate there is a rather large
proportion of women workers who feel more protected in the public
work environment than in the private environment of the home,"
Guerrero pointed out.

In his opinion, "the problems of couples frequently involve
the conflict of roles at the expense of labour or domestic
activity," which demands a social re-evaluation of work, both
inside and outside the home.

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